News in brief

Frankie Howerd home for sale with optional extras

The former home of comic Frankie Howerd near Axbridge, Somerset, is being sold for £800,000 with more than 4,000 items of memorabilia, including his toupée, false teeth and photographs, offered as optional extras for an additional £600,000.

Ministry ad for prison sites

An advertisement has been placed by the Ministry of Justice in Estates Gazette magazine, declaring: 'Prison Site Search - Sites Required - preferably brownfield in excess of 50 acres'. The government wants to build prisons near Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Second lap for Marathon

Marathon bars could be making a comeback. In the same week that Mars announced it was bringing back Opal Fruits, the company has also re-registered the Marathon brand.

Break-in as Strachan sleeps

Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, slept soundly while thieves broke into his Lanarkshire home and made off with luxury goods, including a laptop and camera.

Npower sacks six salesmen

Npower, the energy firm, has sacked six salesmen after industry regulator Ofgem found customers were pressured into signing contracts and were lied to about standing charges while people who spoke little English were taken advantage of.

Boy dies when car hits cow

A five-year-old boy died yesterday after the car driven by his father hit a cow and spun out of control in the village of Newmains, North Lanarkshire.